IBM has allegedly closed its research and development (R&D) activities in China, joining a growing list of large tech corporations reducing their mainland presence due to geopolitical concerns.

According to a Chinese magazine, IBM's decision to close its China Development Lab and China Systems Lab would result in the layoff of over 1,000 employees in locations such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Dalian.

According to a South China Morning Post story, IBM's R&D professionals in China were unable to access the company's intranet and services this weekend.

According to various employee posts on Chinese social media sites, the firm, headquartered in Armonk, New York, officially disclosed the job layoffs during an internal meeting on Monday morning.

What IBM is saying

IBM confirmed the job reduction but did not disclose specifics about the layoffs.

"IBM adapts its operations as needed to best serve our clients, and these changes will not impact our ability to support clients across the Greater China region," an IBM official told the Post in an email.

According to the representative, IBM's local strategy is "focused on having the right teams with the right skills" to assist Chinese companies, particularly privately owned firms, in co-creating hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions by drawing on its "considerable technology and consulting expertise".

IBM will now continue to service private firms and select international corporations operating in China.

IBM is the latest business to shut down operations in China

IBM is hardly the first firm to discontinue operations in China. The move comes as tensions have been raised between China and the United States over commerce.

Companies like as Ericsson, Tesla, Amazon.com, and Intel have also been hit, with large cutbacks in their Chinese staff.